The present invention relates to holders for plugs which can be conveniently attached to a nearby support and, more particularly, to holders for electrical extension cord plugs.
Electronically controlled machines and electrical appliances have become ubiquitous in both the home and the office. Similarly, many toys are available which are often provided with substantial electronic control and display arrangements for use in various electrical operation therewith. Special electrical lighting and various communication devices are also often found at these locations.
This proliferation of electrical and electronic devices has become so great as to often result in insufficient numbers of electrical wall receptacles being provided to supply the necessary electrical power, or such receptacles have been positioned in such a manner as to not take sufficiently into account the need for electrical power in locations other than where provided. As a result, there has been and remains a substantial need for electrical extension cords to make available electrical power to these various devices as needed.
Often, even with the use of an extension cord, use of the electrical appliance or special lighting or the like will remain inconvenient or difficult. If the appliance is being moved by the user, such as with an electrically powered iron during the ironing of clothes, the appliance cord and extension cord at least in part hang below the ironing board and so are dragged across it during movement of the iron. This adds to the effort required to complete the ironing, and at times leads to entanglements with the clothes being ironed draped over the ironing board. Similarly, use of an electric carving knife is often complicated by the risk of the power cord being dragged during use on the serving dishes, plates, etc.
In other situations, the appliance or machine is provided with a very short power cord and is used a relatively long way off the floor. In those circumstances, a substantial fraction of an extension cord used therewith must be more or less vertical to reach the power cord, and so much of the extension cord weight hangs on the power cord, sometimes leading to disconnection of the power cord plug from the extension cord receptacle plug. A typical situation in which this difficulty arises is in the electrical lighting of Christmas trees where the light string often has a short power cord which ends well up in the Christmas tree a significant distance from the floor.
In these, and in other circumstances, the inconvenience or the difficulty encountered could be substantially alleviated if an electrical receptacle for supplying electrical power was at a different location than they usually are. That is, most electrical receptacles are installed about 12 inches above the floor in most residences and offices, but many of these appliances or much special lighting or the like are used several feet above the floor. Thus, there is a substantial need for a means to effectively position a source of electrical power which is at a significant distance from the wall receptacle where such power is available.